The season continued its gradual start with the first Continental Cup of 2026. In addition, two WTCS stars dabbled in single-discipline outings as they tested their fitness ahead of their impending triathlon openers. Dive into the latest in the sport below with this week’s Monday Morning Mix.
Asia Cup and Southeast Asia Championships Putrajaya
That’ll blow off the cobwebs. In a furious dash for the line, Xinyu Lin (CHN) came out on top by 1 second to launch her season with a bang. Saki Yanagihara (JPN) emerged as the top swimmer over the sprint distance 750m, exiting the water in 10:11. Lin was third out, 23 seconds back. Known for her strength on the bike, this was never a position of concern.
A lead pack soon formed with Meiyi Lu (CHN), Bailee Brown (HKG) and Mako Hiraizumi (JPN) among the dozen at the front alongside Lin and Yanagihara. From this select group, the medals were settled. Lin and Lu actually recorded the same run split of 17:47 as they pulled away from their rivals. But it was Lin that would have the final say. Further back, Hiraizumi denied Brown the gold by 5 seconds.
Over in the men’s race, another medal was decided by a single second. The matter of gold was fairly open-and-shut as Takuto Oshima (JPN) controlled the race throughout. He was the fourth man out of the water and maintained his position at the front in a lead pack of eighteen. Heading out onto the 5km run was a little crowded, but Oshima’s 15:04 split was enough to seal the deal.
Behind Oshima came the fireworks. Kazushi Jozuka (JPN), Rongheng Cheng (CHN), Yunfeng Teng (CHN) and Genta Uchida (JPN) were at the sharp end of the medal hunt after checking against one another on the bike. It took a late move from Jozuka to take silver, some 11 seconds behind his compatriot Oshima. 5 seconds later, Uchida completed a Japanese sweep of the podium, denying Teng by 1 second. View the full results here.
Asia Junior Cup Putrajaya
In the junior super sprint action in Putrajaya, Kayla Nadia Shafa (INA) was too good for the rest of the women’s field. Shafa was the second athlete out of the water, although she gave up 18 seconds to swim leader Zija Bian (CHN) over the 300m; Bian recorded a split of 3:58. Shafa, however, would catch Bian to establish a two-athlete breakaway that remained clear for the 10km bike. Then, over the 2.5km run, Shafa ran clear to win by 28 seconds. Bian took silver after Maurizka Nur Azizah (INA) almost ran her down from the chase pack.
The men’s field was whittled down by a pair of semi-finals on Saturday to set up Sunday’s finale. Yansong Li (CHN) had established himself as the man to beat after winning the second heat. He duly went on to claim the gold medal in the final.
Like Shafa, he had work to do after the swim. He nonetheless managed to bridge to leaders on the bike before powering clear with the best run of the day (8:10 for 2.5km). Hauqalah Fakhal Arvyello (INA) was the best of the rest, crossing 27 seconds later. He beat Hong Kong’s Lok Shi Lam into 3rd place by 2 seconds. View the full results here.
Around the world
Olympic silver medallist and T100 world champion Hayden Wilde (NZL) was in action at the New Zealand Road Cycling Championships, trying his hand at the road race and time trial disciplines. The latter was where he truly turned heads, logging a 4th place finish and crossing only 4 seconds shy of a bronze medal. His time over the 44km course stood at 54:30, signalling that he will be primed for some serious bike splits in 2026.
Elsewhere, Csongor Lehmann (HUN) uncorked a 3000m personal best on the track. His time of 8:16:87 sliced almost half a second off his previous best time from 2024; as it happens, that came mere months before he won a maiden WTCS medal. Like Wilde, then, Lehmann is looking in ominous shape.
